Georgia Tech was in full force at the sixth annual English Avenue Festival of Lights. Featuring Tech Trolley tours of the Vine City and English Avenue neighborhoods, and the “Community Historians” exhibition from faculty and students in Tech’s Participatory Publics Lab, the festival served to bolster neighborhood revitalization through visual and performing arts, historical education, cultural and multi-generational community fellowship.

The event included a parade and talent showcase, and a resources expo where groups offered information on substance abuse, health and nutrition, and public safety. 

The Westside Communities Alliance also joined the festivities. The Alliance is led by Georgia Tech Deans Royster and French, and is a collaboration between Atlanta’s westside communities and local institutes of higher education.

For the third-year in a row, computing professor Chris Le Dantec and students from the Participatory Publics Lab showcased the Community Historians project. The project is a collaboration with the Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council and connects individual cultural and historic experiences through a cross-media platform. The project supports local civic engagement and cultivates and documents a shared community identity.

The Festival is organized by the Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council.